1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for recording by discharging ink from recording means for a recording material, and also, relates to the operation method thereof.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed recording by use of recording means (recording head, printing head) of a recording apparatus (a printing apparatus, or the like) of various types, such as wire-dot type, thermo-sensitive type, thermal transfer type, or ink jet type, for recording (printing or the like) on a recording material (also referred to as a recording medium, a printing medium, or simply as a recording sheet) such as paper, cloth, plastic sheet, OHP sheet, or the like.
Of these recording apparatuses, the recording apparatus of ink jet type (hereinafter may also be referred to as an ink jet apparatus) for discharging ink from the discharge ports to record on a recording material (recording sheet) is of low-noise non-impact recording type, which makes it possible to perform a recording operation in high density at high speed. The widely used serial type ink jet recording apparatus is provided with carriage driving means for driving the carriage that mounts the recording head (recording means); conveying means for conveying (sheet feeding) a recording material (recording sheet) by use of the recording unit; and control means for controlling them.
On the other hand, as the energy generating element that generates energy to be utilized for discharging ink from the discharge ports of a recording head (recording means), there is the one that uses electromechanical converting member such as piezoelectric element, irradiates electro-magnetic waves, such as laser, to generate heating for discharging ink droplets by the action of such heating, or uses electrothermal converting element provided with heat generating resistive element to heat liquid, among some others. The recording head of ink jet recording method that discharges ink as droplets by utilization of thermal energy, in particular, makes it possible to record in high resolution, because the discharge ports can be arranged in high density. Particularly, it is favorable to adopt the head that uses electrothermal converting element as the energy generating element, which can be made smaller with ease and manufactured with the full utilization of the advantages of the IC technologies and micro-machining techniques, the advancement and reliability of which are remarkably enhanced in the semiconductor field in recent years, leading to the easier assembling in higher density at lower manufacturing costs.
As described above, the ink jet recording method is simply structured and an exceptionally fine recording method. On the other hand, however, it still has technical problems to be solved. The ink jet recording apparatus performs recording by discharging ink from fine discharge ports to a recording material. As a result, unwanted ink droplets tend to adhere to the discharge port surface. Such ink adhesion may sometimes impede exact ink discharges. To counteract this, the conventional ink jet recording apparatus is provided with wiping means for wiping the discharge port surface for cleaning. Then, a structure is adopted to remove the ink adhesion around the discharge ports by means of relative movements of wiping means and recording means.
As the wiping method, there is the case where the recording head scans (moves) against the stationary wiper blade or the case where while the recording head is stationary, the wiper blade moves in parallel or moves rotationally. When the recording head moves, most of the cases are such as to utilize the main scanning for recording. In such a case, the blade is arranged to enter into or retract from between the positions of the blade being overlapped with and retracted from the traveling path of the recording head. In this way, the wiping is conducted only when it is needed. Also, when the wiper blade moves, it is arranged to enable the blade to move in parallel to the direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction for recording or to reciprocally move by rotation. In this case, with the recording head being allowed to enter or exit from the position of the wiper blade, the wiping can be performed only when it is needed. In other words, when the wiping is performed by reciprocation, the recording head is arranged to retract when the backward (returning) operation is executed, it is made possible to prevent the wiper blade and the recording head from being in contact more than necessary.
Further, to maintain the performance of the aforesaid wiper blade, there is a need for removing ink that has adhered to the wiper blade. Consequently, the wiper blade is allowed to be in contact with an ink absorbent to absorb ink or to abut against a mold or a metallic edge to scrape off ink. When the wiping is performed by means of the main scanning of the recording head, a blade cleaner (a member to clean the wiper blade) is provided for the recording head or a carriage that mounts the recording head. Also, when the wiper blade moves for the execution of wiping, the cleaning member (blade cleaner) is arranged in a position in which the wiper blade is in contact with the recording head immediately after wiping.
However, when the wiper blade advances to or retracts from the blade cleaner, the wiper blade is once bent, and then, restored. Therefore, a drawback is encountered that the remaining ink that has adhered to the wiper blade spreads to stain the interior of the recording apparatus. For the recovery device the driving source of which operates the recovery device for maintaining the recording head, and also, should operate a plurality of recovery means in particular, may sometimes execute a pseudo operation in the same manner as the wiping operation when performing a mechanical operation needed for operating recovery means or recovery device other than the wiping operation. Then, in such a case, the wiper blade is caused to bend in the direction in which the remaining ink (ink adhesion) on the wiper blade spreads with respect to the recording sheet conveyance area as the wiper blade retracts after it has entered the blade cleaner. Consequently, the recording sheet conveyance area may be stained more often by ink thus spread.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing ink adhering to a wiper blade from spreading to the recording material conveyance area by resilient restoring force of the wiper blade when the wiper blade moves out from a blade cleaner, hence preventing a recording material from being stained by spreading ink, and also, to provide a method of operation thereof.
It is another object of the invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage having mounted thereon recording means provided with discharge port surface with discharge ports for discharging ink to a recording material; a wiper blade for wiping and cleaning the discharge port surface of the recording means; and a blade cleaner for wiping off ink adhering to the wiper blade. For this ink jet recording apparatus, the side face portion of the carriage blocks or reduces the spreading of ink to the recording material conveyance area when the wiper blade moves out from the blade cleaner.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a method of operation for an ink jet recording apparatus provided with a carriage having mounted thereon recording means with discharge port surface having discharge ports for discharging ink to a recording material; a wiper blade for wiping and cleaning the discharge port surface of the recording means; and a blade cleaner for wiping off ink adhering to the wiper blade, comprising the steps of wiping off ink adhering to the wiper blade by the blade cleaner; and enabling the carriage to reside in a position above the recording material conveyance area near the wiper blade and the blade cleaner when the wiper blade moves out from the blade cleaner.
In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus capable of preventing ink adhering to a wiper blade from spreading to the recording material conveyance area by resilient restoring force of the wiper blade when the wiper blade moves out from a blade cleaner, hence preventing a recording material from being stained by spreading ink, and also, to provide a method of operation thereof.